Friend Or Foe?
by Arwen Greenleaf
Summary: Zidane fulfills his destiny. Is that really a good thing?*Spoiler alert: You need to finish the game* Romance still hasn's come due to a bit of changing of the order. It will be in chapter 3. I promise.
1.

Friend or Foe? By Liz.P  
  
  
  
  
I heard a crash. I ran toward the source of the sound. I found Zidane stumbling like a drunk all over the place. He had slammed into the castle's iron gate. I went back to my guard post.   
"Beatrix, do you know why Zidane's acting so strangely?" Steiner asked.   
"Probably had too much to drink" I answered.  
"I don't think so. He was sane just a second ago. I remember him asking if Mikoto had stopped by lately. He seemed to want to see her, so I invited her by." Steiner said.  
I smiled. Steiner has warmed up to Zidane much more after fighting alongside him against Kuja.  
A boat arrived and a golden haired Genome jumped out.   
"Good day, Lord Steiner, Lady Beatrix, I hear Zidane summoned me?"  
"Yes, he's-" My voice was cut off by a loud shout.  
Mikoto, Steiner, and I ran into the Ballroom. There was a low wall that seperated a few tables from the main floor. Zidane was standing out on the main floor, attacking everything he could see like a madman.  
  
I crouched behinf the wall. Steiner to my right,and Mikoto to my left. I watched at Zidane's hair lengthened and turned a white/violet color. His skin pailed, his tail grew longer and turned silver. He grew about a foot taller and his already muscular body became more so. Soon, he looked like an almost identical twin to Kuja except for the clothes he was wearing. Those looked exactly the same, except ,somehow, they still fit him in his larger size.  
I heared Steiner gasp. I was as shocked as he, if not more. I glanced at Mikoto to find her on the verge of tears.   
Glancing over the wall again, I saw Zidane flick his now silver hair over his shoulder, smile evilly, and walk out the door.   
I checked to be sure no one else was in the room, grabbed Steiner and Mikoto's attention, we stood up.  
"What happened, Mikoto?" I asked, if there was anyone that knew Genome's habits well, it was Mikoto.   
"Well, It all started a while ago when Garland created Kuja. Kuja once looked like me and how Zidane used to look. Once he became "of age," he...evolved to become Garland's Angel Of Death." Mikoto explained.  
"So your saying that all Genomes will one day look like Kuja?" Steiner asked.   
"No, it requires a soul to evolve like this. When Kuja was created, Garland knew that he was but a prototype to be replaced later by a stronger soul. Therefore, when Kuja became "Of Age" Zidane was created. That way, Kuja would die when Zidane became "Of Age"  
"So, in otherwords, Zidane has turned into Kuja and plans to take over Gaia?" I said  
"Exactly" Mikoto said.  
Steiner, who had been quiet all this time, spoke up. "We should warn the queen!"   
We heard a long scream form upstairs.  
"Too late." I said grimly. "We have to see if she's ok!"  
I drew my "Save The Queen" and ran for the Queen's quarters. Steiner closely followed.  
Opening the wide oak doors, I saw what I had dreaded. The Queen lay unconscious on her bed.  
  
  
~To Be Continued~  
  
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	2. Garnet's Gone Mad!

Friend or Foe? Chapter 2 By Liz P.  
  
  
  
  
"Y- your highness?" I stuttered, nervosly.  
"Yes?" She asked, raising her haid a few inches and then dropping it back on the bed. Suddenly, she stood up, turned towards Mikoto, Steiner, and me, and yelled "Guards, seaze them! Traitor!"   
I stood, shocked for a few seconds. "M-my Queen?" I asked "Are you feeling well?"  
"Why, yes, Beatrix, I'm feeling just fine," she answered.   
By then, a few of my best guards entered the room.   
"Get them!" Garnet yelled.   
To my surprise, my own guards lunged for Mikoto, Steiner, and me. Pulling out my sword, I knocked a few of them out of my way, and Steiner and Mikoto took care of the rest.   
I had to admit, for a Genome, Mikoto had very good fighting skills. She fought with a pair of daggers, like her brother.   
We ran down the corridor, fighting off soldiers as we went.  
Finally reaching the docks, we stopped and looked for a boat. There wasn't one coming anytime soon.  
"Skip the boat" I muttered, seeing that the soldiers that were chasing us were catching up to us.   
I backed up a few feet and fan as fast as I could toward the moat. I leaped over, trying to judge the landing at the same time. I had misjudged and ended up falling into the moat and banging my head on the stone side.   
Dazed, I tried to stay afloat, finding it almost impossable in my current state. The last thing I remembered before going completely unconscious was a pair of strong arms pulling me out.  
  
I awoke approximately three hours later, I was told.   
"Where am I?" I asked, trying to clear my thoughts and find out where I was.  
"We're on the other side of a hill near Alexandria" a familar voice replied.  
I looked over and saw Mikoto and Steiner sitting near a fire nearby. I looked around and saw that they had built a shabby lean-to on the side of a steep hill. I lay under it along with some Yan skin blankets and a map of Gaia. There were six blood droplets on the map. For a strange reason, I felt odd around that map, like there was something it was trying to tell me.   
I shook my head and sat up. My head started to spin. When the world righted it's self, I voiced the one thing that had been bothering me since we were attacked in the Queen's room.   
"I wonder why our own soldiers attacked us," I said  
Steiner bit his lip. "I bet it has something to do with Zidane turning into a clone of Kuja. Mikoto, do you know anything?"  
"No, I have no idea what's going on," Mikoto said, looking up from the fire she was tending. "I do know that when Kuja was on Gaia, he controled Queen Brahne and...yourself, Beatrix, with a special liquid put into red wine."  
This statement brought back horrible memories of when I attacked alongside Kuja. I looked away. My eyes rested on the map.   
'That's strange' I thought to myself 'that blood droplet is on the exact location of Alexandria. And that one's exactly where Lindblum is...'  
To Be Continued   
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	3. Cid? Eiko? Hilda?

Friend or Foe?  
Chapter 3  
By Liz .P  
  
  
  
Clearing my head a bit more, I looked at the map more close. Each blood droplet was on the exact dot of a town.   
I realized something even more pecular. There was a blood droplet on Lindblum, Alexandria, Black Mage Village, Burmecia, Madian Sari, and Qus Marsh.   
Mikoto saw me staring at the map. "I picked that up on the way out of Garnet's bedroom," She said, "isn't it strange how the blood droplets fell?"  
Suddenly, I realized what this ment. Eiko had moved to Lindblum with Regent Cid and Lady Hilda last year, Vivi now lived with his own kind in Black Mage Village, Freya was currently helping reconstruct Burmecia, Amarant now lived by himself in Madian Sari, and Quina was probably happily catching frogs in Ou's Marsh.   
I gasped. "Zidane's trying to enslave us, one by one. He has already gotten Her Magesty, by the looks of things, and probably our knights also, Steiner," I said.   
Steiner bit his lip. "Where would he go next then?" He asked.  
"Probably....Lindblum. It's closest to Alexandria," Mikoto piped up.  
"Good point, but how are we going to get there?" I asked, "Lindblum is on the other side of the Alexandria Mountain Range and the nearest entrance is an Airship gate. Zidane, no doubt, is using an Airship, but all we have is our feet and a few Chocobo tracks."  
"Choco wouldn't get us far," Steiner said, "Is there any other way?"  
"Being the youngest Genome with a soul, Garland gave me a gift..." Mikoto said "That gift was a transporter."  
"Great! We can g-"  
"Beatrix, you still need rest. We shall leave in the morning," Steiner cut in.  
That was true, my head still felt woozy. I leaned back onto a few Yan skins, watched the sun set, and finally went to sleep.  
I woke up later that evening to find I was thirsty. I grabbed the empty water barrel and walked down to the stream to fill it.   
As the barrel filled, I heard footsteps behind me. Whirling around, I saw Steiner walk over.  
"There you are! I was worried when I saw that you were gone." Steiner said.  
"I'm fine, don't worry," I told him.  
Steiner looked up and I followed his gaze. The moon was shining and the stars were glittering brightly. It was a beautiful night.  
"Beatrix...." Steiner said, "There's something that I need to tell you"  
"Yes?" I said.  
"I-I want us to be together...forever, no.... more than forever, Beatrix ...I love you" He said.   
At this, I was shocked and happily surprised. No matter how much I tried to hide it, I felt the same way.   
"Steiner... I...love you too" I admitted.  
He smiled at me. I smiled back as he put his strong arms around me.  
He planted a soft kiss on my cheek, then on my lips. I smiled and kissed him back.   
Suddenly, I heard a scream. Breaking the kiss, I stepped back and looked around. I heard the scream again. It sounded familiar.  
"Mikoto!" We both exclamed.   
Forgetting the water barrel, we ran back to camp to find four Mistodons surrounding our temporary lean-to.  
Though Mikoto had great power for a Genome, she could not defeat four Mistodons by herself.   
Steiner jumped in to help and, grabbing my sword, I followed.   
After we defeated the Mistodons, we decided that someone should keep watch while the others slept.   
The next morning, Steiner woke Mikoto and me up and we were off.  
Mikoto whispered a few words and suddenly I felt a tingling sensation all over. Everything went blank for a few seconds and then, we were at the doors of Dragons Gate.   
Being a General of Alexandria's army and a friend of Regent Cid's, I was let in without a question. The same with Steiner, but Mikoto had a little trouble.   
"I assure you, she will be no trouble," I said.  
"She is unauthorized!" The guard exclaimed, "How can we trust you?"  
"I am a high ranking General from a friendly country. I assure you, she will be of no harm to anyone!" I exclaimed.  
Finally, after showing every guard my ID so they were certain that I was General Beatrix, they let us through.  
Then, we dashed to the cable car that is used to get to the Airship docks ,and up the stairs.  
From there, we told a guard that we needed to see Regent Cid, Lady Hilda, and lady Eiko right away.   
After another round of showing our IDs, we met up with the Royal Family.   
Something strange was going on. When was entered the meeting room, everyone, including Lady Eiko, was sipping red wine!  
"Would you like something to drink?" Hilda asked, being the perfect hostess.  
Feeling strange, I almost accepted, then I decided against. I shook my head at Steiner and Mikoto, telling them not to drink any either.  
"No, thank you," Steiner and Mikoto said.  
"Are you sure?' Cid asked.  
"Yes," I'm fine" Steiner siad.  
"GUARDS! SEASE THEM!" Cid yelled.  
After that, we were taken to the dungeon.  
~*To Be Continued*~ 


End file.
